A Helping Hand
by LucyLuna
Summary: Gwen Invites Miles to her 'verse to help her figure out what Mysterio is plotting. Part thirteen of My Memories Came Back in the Form of Someone Else series. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

_A Helping Hand_

* * *

Walking into her bedroom, Gwen let the towel she had been using to dry her hair fall around her shoulders. Going to her dresser, she opened her sock drawer and pulled out the goober she kept tucked in the back corner of it behind some socks that had shrunk in the wash a while ago and she'd just never bothered to get rid of. Dialing Miles's number, she glanced over at her alarm clock on the table next to her bed and saw that the red numbers read twelve twenty. Gwen winced. Hopefully, Miles was still up. Sitting down on her bed, she waited for him to either answer or for him not to. Gwen grinned in relief when a small holographic of Miles's face appeared in front of her. His image smiled too when she said, "Hey."

"_Hey_," he echoed.

Settling herself more comfortably against the pillows of her bed, she asked, "How is your summer going?"

"_Good_," he answered. "_Mom got me a job at a convenience store she knows the owner of. A couple of times a week I go in and help out with stuff. Stocking, the register, mopping the floors… That kinda thing. It's nice not having to ask my parents for money all the time. It makes it easier to pay for my pencils and paints and everything Spider-related too. _ " Miles's eyes went wide suddenly and excited, he babbled, " _ Oh, and Ganke invited me to come with him and his parents to the Niagara Falls in a couple of weeks. I dunno how interesting it'll be, but I haven't ever really been out of the city too much, so it should be fun no matter what. _ " He laughed. " _ Hopefully New York will be okay for five days." _

Gwen hummed in agreement and stretched out her legs on her bed and turned on her side, bringing along the goober with her. "I went once when I was eleven," she said to Miles. "It's seeing it from the Canada side that's really impressive."

"_Tight. I'll talk to the Lees about going to that side to see it." _ Miles faced blurred briefly, like he was moving, and then it stilled and attentive eyes met Gwen's as he asked, " _ How's it in your 'verse?_"

She yawned into her hand before answering, "Busy. If I'm not at band practice, I'm at dance, if not there, I'm doing Spider-Woman stuff." Scratching lazily at her neck, she asked, "Hey, do you think there's any chance you can come here for a couple of days? Mysterio seems to be up to something and I could use a hand in research and maybe stopping him too if it's really serious."

Miles's head bobbed. "_Sure, when? Where will I stay? You got an Aunt May too, right? Is she as cool as mine?_"

"My parents will probably let you crash on the living room couch," replied Gwen. She brings a hand to scrub one of her tired eyes. "They let Pete sleepover tons of times."

"_Woah, really?_"

Fighting the urge to fall asleep, Gwen nodded. "Mh-hm," she said. "Mom and Dad are pretty cool that way. As long as I never close my room's door all the way when a boy's over, they don't mind at all if my friends hang here or spend the night."

"_Tight,_" Miles said, appreciative. "_Yeah, I can come over for a couple of days. Will the day after tomorrow be okay? I gotta tell my parents and ask Ganke to cover for me. _"

"Completely fine," agreed Gwen. "Whatever Mysterio's got planned, I've already figured out isn't a threat to anybody right now."

"_Aight, see you in a couple days. And Gwen?_"

Eyes drooping more and more, she mumbled, "Hm?"

"_Sweet dreams,_" Miles told her, his holographic image smiling ever so slightly at her.

She laughed softly and watched Miles's image flicker out of existence. Sighing, she nuzzled into her pillow and soon, with thoughts about the next couple of days swirling in her mind, she drifted off to sleep.

-o-O-o-

"Gwen!" Miles greeted upon her opening the door to her family's home. Grinning at the boy, she stepped aside and let him into her house.

"Hey," she said.

Head swivelling around, Miles took in the living room next to the door as he let his backpack slip from his shoulder. "Nice," he said.

Gwen glanced away and shrugged. The peach walls, oatmeal carpets and floral upholstered couch and armchairs were all just home to her. Pointing to the small hallway leading off the living room, she said, "My bedroom's down that way. So's the bathroom."

Miles nodded and took off his Nike's. "Cool," he answered. "Where should I put my stuff? Are your parents home? I should say hi to them."

Gwen led Miles across her living room and gestured for him to put his backpack next to the sheets and pillow laid out on the sofa in preparation for his visit. "There's fine," she told Miles. "Mom and Dad are working. Dad promised to bring home Chinese after work, you can get to know them then."

Taking Gwen up on her suggestion, Miles put down his backpack, eyes still taking in everything. Gwen bit her lip when he went still and she realized he was looking at an old photo of her and Peter from freshman year at a laser-tag place. She'd debated about hiding all of the photos of Peter, but had decided against it in the end. Gwen had just worked up the courage to put them all out like they had been before Peter died a few weeks ago. She didn't want to go back to before, she wanted to move forward.

"Your friend, Peter, he was…?" Miles muttered.

Gwen sighed and went and sat down on the sofa. "Yeah," she answered. "My Pete, was _Peter_ _Parker_."

"Does our Peter know?"

"Yes. He also had his own Gwen once."

"_Once_?" Miles repeated, eyes big as he dropped onto the couch next to her, the photo of Peter and her in his hands.

She looked away and bit her lip. Gwen wasn't sure if it was her place to her share. Not that she had a lot to tell him anyway. The extent of her knowledge was mostly inferences with some occasional confirmations on Peter's part. In the end, she decided what she had to say probably wouldn't hurt anyone. It probably wouldn't come up at all in conversation between Peter and Miles anytime soon— If ever. "I didn't ask for a lot of details," she admitted. "I think his Gwen and him were best friends like me and Pete were." Gwen looked back at Miles when his warm hand settled on top of her own.

His expression was wrought as he whispered, "I'm sorry, Gwen."

Blinking back the tears she felt building in the back of her eyes, Gwen shook her head. "No, don't be," she told Miles, putting on a reassuring smile that fit her lips a lot like the one she'd given six-year-old Miles during the bank robbery a couple of weeks ago. "It's like I told him, it's kinda nice, getting to hang out with him. My best friend doesn't feel so gone when I'm with him."

"Yeah?" he said, an uncertain, concerned note to his voice.

She nodded, her smile feeling more genuine. "Yeah."

Slowly, he returned the smile. Turning away a moment, he put the photo back where he found it before facing her again. Tucking one leg up against his chest, he hugged it and asked, "So, I guess we should talk about what's up with Mysterio now while your parents are gone, huh?"

"Let me get my research," replied Gwen, popping up from the couch. "It's in my room."

* * *

**Movie Miles and Gwen together again. What do you think of this first chapter? Excited?**

**Thank you very much for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

_A Helping Hand_

* * *

"…So you see, I think he's going to steal this artifact from this southeast Asian exhibit they have at the natural history museum." Gwen sighed and shuffled her papers into a pile. "Why, I'm not sure. Everything I read at the library about the stone tablet says it's just has half of the story for a myth that the civilization it belonged to had." She bit her lip. "I mean, sure, it's probably worth some money and that could, no, _ probably _ is why Mysterio wants it, but I… Something tells me there's more to it."

Miles nodded, then, he picked up the papers and put them back in her folder she had labeled "history" to keep her parents from looking in it. "Have you seen if there's anything on Wikipedia? Or like other sites online?"

Gwen frowned. "Wikipaedia? Why would I go on there? All my teachers say it can't be trusted to have totally factual information."

"Oh, do they? Psh. Teachers. Nah, girl, it's _ great _for research. Sure, you should check its sources when what you're researching is gonna count, but it's not bad," he reassured her before pulling out his phone. "What's the Wi-Fi password?"

Gwen rattled it off and watched Miles stick his tongue out briefly as he typed it into his phone. When he finished, he then pulled up a browser she didn't recognize and typed in the stone tablet's name. Gwen leaned in and tried to glean what Miles was reading off his phone's screen for the next couple of minutes as silence reigned over them. Unfortunately, she couldn't make out much. Finally, Miles looked up from his screen and said, "Your wiki, which is spelled weird, by the way, says the myth on that tablet has most of a prayer to this civilization's god. Did you know that?"

She shook her head before she leaned back and settled herself more comfortably in her spot on the couch. "No," she answered, "the books at the library didn't say anything."

He smirked. "See? Useful."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh."

"Do you think he's trying to get in contact with this 'god'?" asked Miles, leaning his head back against the couch's back and sticking his legs straight out to rest his sock-covered feet on top of the closed folder on the coffee table. "The Mysterio back home got mixed up with some demons about a decade ago I guess and it turned really nasty with him before my Peter figured out how to separate him from the demon and turn him back into the shitty thief and manipulator he is now."

Gwen gnawed the inside of her cheek, the uneasy pit in her stomach burrowing deeper than before. "I don't know," she admitted. "Maybe." She was going to say more on the issue when the front door's lock was undone and it swung open to reveal her dad. He looked over at them, smiling. "Food's here!" he called, "your mom said she's going to be late, so we should start without her."

"Sounds great, Dad," she said, pushing herself off the couch and pulling the folder out from under Miles's feet. "Let me just clean up what we were doing and we'll meet you in the kitchen."

-o-O-o-

Gwen frowned when "crushcrushcrush" began to blare from her cellphone. Grabbing the remote from where it rested on the couch between her and Miles, Gwen used it to pause Disney's _ Bolt. _Flipping her phone open, she hit talk and said, "Hello?"

"_Have you forgotten you promised to be somewhere today? _"

She gasped. Fuck. She _ had_. They'd rescheduled band practice for today after Ally had a family Christening she had to go to a few days ago. Rocketing to her feet and nearly upturning the bowl of popcorn sitting precariously on the edge of the coffee table in front of her, Gwen said, "Shit. Yeah. I'll be there in twenty. I'm sorry, MJ. I invited a friend over and—"

There was an intake of breath on the other side of the line. "_You have a _friend?"

Gwen frowned and turned away from Miles, who was staring up at her curiously from the sofa. Crossing an arm over her chest, she grumbled, "MJ."

"_I__'m kidding. It's cool you have a friend over. It's too bad those friends aren't me and the girls, but…" _ She trailed off, only to ask a beat later, "_Hey, are you gonna bring them then?" _

_ " _Of course," she answered. "I don't want to leave him here all alone. Mom and Dad went to play cards with some friends."

"_Him_?"

"Oh, stop," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "See you soon, okay? Bye."

"_See ya_!" MJ sing-songed in return before the line went dead. Pulling the cellphone from her ear, Gwen snapped it shut and sighed.

Returning her attention to Miles, she asked, "So, on a scale of one to ten, how excited are you to meet my band?"

Miles grinned, jumping up from his seat. "Ten all the way!" he declared. "Oh man, this will be fun!"

Gwen gave her friend a strained smile. She was sure it would all be okay, but _ fun _was not how she would describe what was going to come next. The girls were going to be all over Miles the minute they saw him.

-o-O-o-

Walking down the street from MJ's, Miles gave him a bemused grin and shook his head. "Wow, your bandmates are…" he trailed off looking away and resting a hand on the back of his neck. Shyly, he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Um, Juliana's not gonna be bad at me if I don't text her later, right? Like, she's _ fine_, no doubt there, but since we're from different universes and all—"

"—Don't worry," Gwen cut in. "I'll let her know long-distance isn't something you're in to and not to get her hopes up for anything serious."

"Newark's not even an hour away."

Gwen smirked. Maybe Miles had gotten a little panicky and said he was from Newark instead of the agreed-upon Buffalo, but that didn't mean things were ruined. "You never said say you were from Newark _ New Jersey._"

A furrow started between Miles brows. "Is there someplace else called Newark besides Newark?"

She shrugged. "Probably," she answered. "We can look it up later. If there isn't, I can make something up. Juliana's not going to question it. As far as she knows, I don't have any reason to lie."

Miles frowned. "I guess," he replied.

Gwen nudged Miles. "Hey, it's not going to hurt Juliana to be given a little white lie, okay?"

He nodded and his expression turned more confident. "Yeah, you're right," he agreed. Miles then stopped suddenly, earning himself a few mutters from the people walking behind them, and pointed at a corner shop just a few storefronts down. "Hey, wanna get some snacks and slushies to finish off the movie with?"

Gwen smiled. "Sure, why not?" Together, the two of them hurried over to the shop and began to debate which candies they should buy and what flavor slushie was the best. Once inside, they spent upwards ten minutes looking at all of the junk food and the other product the store carried before making their decisions and heading for the slushie machine. While Gwen filled her cup up with blue raspberry, she heard Miles give a sharp gasp beside her. Looking away from her cup, she asked, "What's up?"

Miles didn't reply and she had to follow his gaze to where it was at the counter. There, stood the familiar outline of Aaron Davis. Gwen felt her own mouth drop open and was about to suggest they duck into the chip and cracker aisle until he left when the sticky, coldness of slushie dripped onto her hand. Yanking her hand away from the spout, she exclaimed, "Ugh!"

Aaron looked over his shoulder at the sound and, of course, spotted her and Miles. He smirked and quickly turned back to the clerk behind the counter to finish his purchase. A minute later, he was standing in front of them, stuffing a pack of Newports into his jacket's pocket.

"You smoke?" Miles said, dismayed.

Gwen couldn't help but glare at the back of his head. What kind of question was that? And with that tone? Was he trying to offend him? Aaron snorted and looked from Gwen to Miles. "Since the late nineties," he answered. Returning his attention to Gwen, he put on a smirk and said, "Hey."

She bit back a sigh and returned, "Hi."

As Miles gaped at the two of them, Aaron said, "How's it going, kid? Staying outta trouble?"

"I don't go looking for trouble, trouble finds me," she replied.

"Oh my God, are you quoting _ Harry Potter _?"

She frowned at her wide-eyed friend. "Harry? It's Henry Potter."

"So, Gwen, who's your friend?" Aaron asked, interrupting the two of them. Both of their gazes snapped back to Aaron, who was grinning at them in amusement.

"Uh, he's, um" she stammered as she felt her cheeks heat up.

Miles quickly stepped in and offered Aaron his hand. "I'm Niles."

Aaron raised a brow and squinted at him. "Yeah?" he said. "Ya know, you look _ real _familiar. Do you got any older brothers? Maybe a young uncle?"

Gwen bit her lip and watched Miles flounder she had only seconds before and mutter, "Uh…"

"A cousin? Maybe named D'Shawn? Xander? Oh, how about Stripes?"

Miles shook his head and said, "Nah, sorry, man."

"Huh," Aaron replied, still squinting at Miles. "Where you know Gwen from?"

"It's kinda a long story…" replied Miles scratching his chin and laughing.

She nodded with a small chuckle of her own and added, "Way longer than you want to stick around for."  
Putting a hand on Miles's shoulder and causing him to jump, she told Aaron in hopes of changing the subject, "He's visiting me for the weekend. We just stopped in to get some slushies and stuff to eat while we watch a movie."

"Yeah? Guess you two don't go to the same school then, huh?" he replied, slouching slightly and putting his hands in his pockets.

Gwen shook her head as Miles answered, "I go to Brooklyn Visions Academy."

Aaron's eyes shined at Miles's words. "Oh yeah? That's tight! Visions is something else I hear. Good for you, man." He then turned a teasing smile on Gwen. "It's good to know you got friends who are going places and not just leading you into trouble."

She huffed and crossed her arms. "MJ and the girls are going places, they just like to have some fun along the way," said Gwen, doing her best to ignore the way she could feel Miles staring at her.

The man laughed. "Aight, aight," he replied, putting up a hand. "I'm just playin' with ya." Looking to the door, Aaron said, "I gotta be leaving, but it was nice seeing ya, Gwen." He offered a fist to Miles. "And meeting you, Niles."

"Yeah, same to you," Miles replied, meeting Aaron's fist with his own. Together, they watched him walk out of the store and walk down the street. After he was gone from view, Gwen turned to Miles and asked, "Ready?"

He nodded, a brief smile curving his lips. "Yeah."

-O-

The credits from _ Bolt _scrolling across the screen, Gwen lifted her head from where she had it laid on her couch's arm and looked over her shoulder at Miles, who was slumped in the corner of his side of the couch. His eyes were half-lidded and a half-eaten bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos sat on his stomach. Prodding his leg with her toes, she called, "Miles?"

He blinked a couple of times and focused his gaze on her. "Yeah?" he asked before stifling a yawn in the crook of his arm.

"Earlier…" she murmured. "Earlier was okay, right?" She bit her lip. "You aren't… sad or anything, are you?"

He shook his head. "No," he answered. "I mean, I really, _ really,_ wanted to hug Uncle Aaron when I saw him, but it was… good. I liked saying hi." Picking up the bag of Cheetos, he folded the top half over and put it on the coffee table next to their empty boxes of Ike and Mikes. He smiled sleepily at Gwen as he leaned back into the couch and put his arms behind his head. "I miss my uncle, but I like that there is one here." Eyes falling closed, he whispered, "And that he's got you to look out for him."

Gwen stared at Miles for a long time after, watching the slow rise and fall of his chest. As the TV turned to screen-saver mode in front of her, she made a silent vow to herself to make sure her Aaron never died. For both of her Miles. For all the Miles in all of the worlds. She would not let little Miles know the heartbreak hers knew and she would not make her Miles grieve again for his uncle.

* * *

**Aaron has made an appearance :) What do you think?**

**Thank you all very much for reading !**


	3. Chapter 3

_A Helping Hand_

* * *

"_I've got eyes on Mysterio, he's going inside_," Miles told her over the com.

Gwen nodded even though Miles couldn't see her and replied, "Okay." Preparing herself for the confrontation to come, she dipped into the shadows and climbed up the wall in the hallway outside of the room housing the Southeast Asian exhibit to wait on the ceiling. Gwen had found even after almost two years of her doing this heroine thing, the villains often failed to look up when scoping out their surroundings.

Someday, the villains who lasted would she knew, but for now, she would use their lack of foresight to her advantage. Gwen went taut as her spidey-sense started to buzz in the back of her head and, carefully, she crept forward in preparation for Mysterio to appear. And appear he did not a minute later. However, Gwen didn't drop down on him immediately like she'd planned to when she climbed up to hide in the dark. Something didn't seem right. He was moving strangely. With far more languid confidence than she'd seen from him before.

Why?

The urgent buzzing of her Spidey-Senses crescendoed into a scream of warning and Gwen looked back just in time to see the helmet of another Mysterio before his hand shot out and snagged her ankle, pulling her and a couple of ceiling tiles down to the floor below. "Whoah!" Gwen yelled, twisting and turning and slithering out of the second Mysterio's hold before he could do any worse to her.

"_Gwen_?" she heard Miles say over the com.

Relief washing over her as she realized this didn't have to become a shit-show, she said, "Back up! There are two Mysterios!" before she was forced to do a backflip to dodge an attack from the second Mysterio. Gwen tried to dive beneath his attacking arms seconds later to chase after the first one as he went into the Southeast Asian Exhibit, but she was grabbed around the middle and thrown almost halfway down the hall by the second before she could.

She gasped when her side connected with the floor's tiles. Her powers had made her more durable, but not invincible and she was pretty sure she had some very badly bruised or cracked ribs now thanks to this second Mysterio. As she forced herself up, the second Mysterio came to hover above her. Her eyes went wide when she saw familiar purple claws grow from his hand. "Prowler…?" she whispered.

"You get away from her!" Miles roared, kicking the second Mysterio – Prowler – in the helmet. Prowler stumbled back, his unclawed hand resting on the cracked glass of his helmet as Gwen was helped to her feet by her friend. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

Holding her side, Gwen just nodded and said, "Thanks Spider-Man." Reaching for Miles's hand, she briefly grabbed it and tugged him toward the exhibit. "C'mon, the real Mysterio's in there with the tablet!"

Prowler tried to block her from going into the next room again, but Miles leaped forward and laid a hand on him, thoroughly electrocuting the Prowler and causing him to crumple into a heap on the floor. For a moment, Gwen just stared at the Prowler, then, turning to Miles she said, "You know that's the Prowler, right?"

"What!"

She nodded and pointed at his hand, which still had his claws visible. "See?"

"Shit," Miles swore, hands going to his head. "Do you think he's okay?"

Gwen resisted the urge to sigh. "I don't know, is he?" she returned. "_You're _the one who shocked him."

"He_ should _be," Miles replied as he wound his arms around himself, clearly looking for loose fabric to worry where there was none. "I mean, I'm still getting the hang of the whole electricity thing, but, I—"

"—Good," she said, cutting him off and starting for the next room. "Let's go then. Mysterio needs to be taken as far away from that table as we can get him." Gwen only paused long enough to make sure Miles was following before bursting into the Southeast Asian exhibit, hand positioned to fire.

"Where is he?" Miles asked from behind as he eyes darted to and fro. She couldn't see Mysterio anywhere. Gut sinking, she ran for the tablet's exhibit. When she arrived, she breathed a sigh of relief. It was still there. He hadn't gotten it yet.

Miles stepped up next to her and leaned over the ropes separating them from the tablet. Squinting at the tablet he said, "Do you think this one is the real deal?"

The panic she'd just squelched rose anew. Eyes snapping to Miles, she demanded, "What?"

"Well, he's a guy of sleight of hand. He could have put a fake one there to throw everybody off," Miles replied.

That nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach only making itself more prominent, Gwen turned her head to look over her shoulder and said, "I think an interrogation is going to be in order." It would be the fastest way to find out if this was a fake, Gwen knew. Mysterio would have probably told Aaron if he planned to replace the real tablet with a forgery to get away with the thievery of it. And if not, well, Gwen would have to come in as Spider-Woman tomorrow and get one of the exhibit's directors to have their anthropologists look it over to see if it was the real tablet or no.

"With… Uncle Aaron?" Miles mumbled, uneasy.

She gave a stiff nod. "He teamed up with Mysterio, he will know something. If not what Mysterio's plans are, where his base is, or maybe where we can find him next." Spinning on her heels and stalking back toward the corridor, she called, "Now, come on."

"I don't know, Gwen…" Miles said behind her. "You said your Prowler doesn't talk, how are we going to get him to tell us anything?"

"It's Spider-Woman, Spider-Man," she snapped as they stepped into the hallway where Aaron's prone body was still laid out. "And if Prowler knows what's good for him, New York, and his Miles, he'll talk." Walking up to Aaron, she aimed her web-shooter at him and bound him up in her webbing. After she finished, she looked back at Miles who was switching from foot to foot uneasily in the doorway between the hallway and the exhibit. "Come on," she said, "help me sit him up."

Her friend came forward and grabbed one side of the Prowler and hoisted him up with her. "How are we waking him?" Miles asked.

Gwen pursed her lips beneath her mask. How was a good question. An idea coming to her, she ran her fingers down the broken helmet until she found where it connected with his suit and undid the latches. Pulling it off, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw he was wearing his Prowler mask beneath. This was good. They could work with this. Winding back her hand, she then slapped Prowler across the face, earning a sharp, "Hey!" from Miles in the process.

However, it got the exact result she wanted as Aaron gasped and his head snapped up, the white of his mask's eyes large with shock. Crouching down to his height, Gwen rested her chin in her hand and said, "Good, you're awake."

He stared at her, then shifted his gaze to Miles behind her. After he started to struggle briefly against the webbing he was wrapped in. Gwen put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Come on, Prowler, even if you get out of that webbing, we'll take you both down again."

He didn't stop struggling immediately, but after a moment, he did still and fix an angry glare on her. She snorted. "Yeah, yeah," she said. "Be mad all you want." Leaning back on her haunches, she told him, "You're going to have to talk, Prowler. You just helped Mysterio get his hands on something that's going to help him make a deal with a god—"

"—Demon," Miles interrupted. "It's probably a demon, not a god at all."

Gwen nodded. "Right," she said, "you've just helped Mysterio get a step closer to making a pact with a demon."

Prowler turned his head away, unimpressed.

Gwen sighed and looked back at Miles, who shrugged. Returning her attention to Prowler, she said to him, "You realize if he makes a deal with a demon he's going to become more than a nuisance to New York, but a real danger? Surely you can see why we have to stop him? He could _ destroy _our home."

"Or at least Brooklyn," Miles broke in, moving to stand next to Gwen. "He likes to rob banks and stuff over that way here too, right? Who knows what little kids and old ladies could become collateral damage during his power trip where he robs everything in sight before you stop him, Spider-Woman."

That got Prowler's attention. His head turned slightly and Gwen could see he was now listening. "Right," she said. "He does cause a lot of trouble in Brooklyn. I can only imagine how much worse it will be in a couple of days…" she sighed and put a hand to her cheek.

"I know where he is now," Prowler said after a beat, his voice forcefully gruff.

Gwen shared a look with Miles, certain he was wearing a grin like her beneath his mask. Turning back to Prowler, she crossed her arms and said, "Oh yeah?"

* * *

**We saw some hero action! And now Prowler's gonna help the spiders beat Mysterio! Excited?**

**Thank you very much for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

_A Helping Hand_

* * *

Swinging under New York city's streetlights, they followed Prowler, now back in his own suit, as he guided them to Mysterio's hideout. Occasionally, someone yelled a greeting at her – no surprise there, New York's called the City That Never Sleeps for a reason – and Gwen was pressed to wave or yell a return hello before she swung away. Miles even got a few shouts directed at him, asking who he was, mostly, but a few made the decision to call "Spider-Man" after him. Miles enthusiastically greeted those individuals and soaked up their interest in him.

Gwen didn't mind sharing the limelight. She wasn't going to lie and say she didn't enjoy the notoriety, but it could get overwhelming and to not be the sole focus of New York for once was a relief. The Prowler, however, received nothing. At first, she assumed it was because he was on his motorcycle in the street, speeding and weaving through traffic like a, well, _ ass_. But she realized that couldn't be pretty fast. With all of the laws he was breaking, Prowler was_ very _noticeable. People said nothing because they knew he was a villain and they didn't want a guy like him taking notice of them.

Gwen almost felt bad for the Prowler. Almost. Then she remembered he'd picked the villain path and if he wanted people to like seeing him, he should have chosen to become a hero.

Finally, Prowler turned sharply off the road and Gwen and Miles landed next to him as he got off his motorcycle. Miles put his hands on his hips and stared up at the rather rundown brick complex in front of them and tilted his head. "This it?" he asked.

"Yeah," Prowler grunted in that fake, gruff voice that kind of reminded her a bit of the tone Miles used when talking to people back in his 'verse, as he walked up to stand next to Gwen.

Her friend looked over his shoulder at the two of them and said, "It's kinda… ghetto, I guess."

Aaron shrugged his shoulders and Gwen pursed her lips behind her mask. "Mysterio hasn't been making a lot of money lately, I've busted his last few attempts to rob places. I figure that's why he decided to go the demon summoning route," she explained

Slowly, Miles nodded his head. "Yeah, that makes sense," he answers. "Mine I guess just has better financial sense."

"His?" Prowler muttered in a tone closer to Aaron's regular voice.

Gwen decided to ignore it in favor of looking at him and asking, "Which place is his?"

The man pointed down. "Basement," he answered. After that, the Prowler tried to turn away and go back to his bike, but Gwen grabbed his arm.

"Oh no, nah-uh, not happening," she said. "Come on, you _ need _to help us."

"How's it gonna look me helping you after I already took his money?" Prowler demanded.

Miles answered before she could open her mouth, "We're forcing you, duh," he answered. "How's Mysterio gonna get all mad at you cause a coupla Spiders told you to help us or spend the next however many years in Rikers?"

Prowler relaxed under her hand and she knew they had him. Gwen looked at Miles and hoped he knew she was grinning at him beneath her mask. His quick-thinking had just gained them a _ great _asset in getting this tablet back from Mysterio.

Walking toward the building, the Prowler took lead and brought them around to the back of it and jumped onto a fire-escape, pulling its ladder down for them to climb. Together, the three of them scaled it until they were at the very top of the building. Once on the roof, he took them to the door that would lead them inside. Lifting his foot, he kicked the knob until it broke and the door popped open.

Still following Prowler, Gwen and Miles walked behind the man as they practically flew down the steps all the way to ground level. From there, he guided them across the small corridor and to the steps that led to the basement. He looked back at Gwen and Miles then, telling them, "He's the only tenant down here."

She nodded, relieved. She hated the thought of someone being just on the other side of a wall as they battled it out with Mysterio. Gwen tried not to cause too much collateral damage when she fought villains, but it wasn't always something she could control. Knowing the chances of someone getting hurt in the coming battle were slim made her feel much more confident about it all.

Reaching the basement, the Prowler stepped aside and gestured at the door. "You lead," he said.

Gwen shared a look with Miles, who nodded at her. He would hang back and bring in the Prowler with him after the initial attack. Pivoting, Gwen lifted her leg and kicked the door in. Charging into the room, she yelled, "Mysterio, put that tablet down!"

The villain, still wearing his suit and helmet, turned at the sound of her voice. When he saw her, he brought the tablet closer to him and reached for something on a table to his right. Gwen acted fast and shot off webbing at him, however, it missed by millimeters and a moment later, she was forced to put both of her hands up.

Of all the things he could have reached for, Mysterio reached for a simple pistol.

"I don't think so!" yelled Miles, bursting in and shooting his webbing at the hand holding the pistol. Predictably, the force of the webbing hitting the pistol and Mysterio's hand knocked it off target, but not before he pulled the trigger.

Even with her Spidey-Senses screaming at her to move, Gwen couldn't, not enough, anyway. Seconds after the pistol went off, she gasped and fell into a crouch, one hand clutching the side of her head. As she put a hand over the graze on her head and the tatters of her ruined mask, Mysterio used his free hand to start tugging at the webbing attached to his hand and the gun.

Miles audibly sucked in air and fell to his knees beside. "Gw— Spider-Woman!" he stuttered.

"I'm fine," she promised, reaching for one of his hands to give it a squeeze. A moment later, both were made to look up as the Prowler loomed over them. Gwen said, "Hey there."

"He got you?" Prowler rumbled.

"Ye—" she started to say, but before she could finish the word, the Prowler leaped forward and tackled Mysterio to the floor, shattering his helmet. "Shit!" Gwen swore. "Go stop him before he kills him!" she told Miles.

Miles sprung to his feet and joined the fray. When both men barely paid Miles any attention between throwing fists, he made the smart decision to shock them both unconscious. Mysterio and the Prowler turned tense before going entirely limp. "That was close," Miles said, staring at the heap of villains.

Slowly rising to her feet, Gwen replied, "I'll say."

Miles pulled up his mask and approached. "Want me to take a look at that?"

She sighed, unhappy, but dipped her chin in agreement. Pulling off her mask, she winced when Miles began probing the wound. "How's it look?" asked Gwen.

"It's deeper than I think is okay, but you could probably get away with cleaning it up real good with some antiseptic and some butterfly bandages," he replied.

She groaned. "My parents are going to have a _ fit_."

"What will you tell them?"

"Maybe I won't even go home tonight. May would be more than happy to have me stay over a night or two until it looks a little less new."

"You could just tell them someone mugged us and hit you up the side of the head…" Miles suggested.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Come on, Miles, my _ policeman _dad will not let this drop if I say that to him."

Her friend grimaced. "Yeah, that was stupid. Sorry."

She ran a hand down the side of her face before reaching over and giving his cheek a light pat. "It's okay, you're just trying to help." Pulling away entirely, Gwen pulled her ripped mask back down and said, "Besides, I will need her to help fix my mask anyway."

"True that," Miles agreed, following her lead. The two of them turn to face the heap of villains. "What are we going to do about this?" he asked.

"For one, we're taking the tablet back," she replied, holding up one finger. Then, putting up a second, she said, "For two, we're wrapping these two up and leaving Mysterio at the nearest station. I'm sure he's got some warrants for his arrest out there." Gwen raised a third finger. "As for Prowler… We can dump him and his bike in the alleyway. He'll be okay when he wakes up."

"Yeah?" Miles said, uncertain.

Gwen nodded. "Sure, I've done it before. He'll be fine."

Miles went over and dragged the Prowler off of Mysterio. "Let's do it," he said. "They'll wake up if we wait for too long."

She nodded in agreement before going over to help Miles with Prowler. As they carried him out of the apartment and toward the stairs leading up to the main corridor, Gwen hoped the Prowler would understand why they'd done what they did when he woke back up.

* * *

**How'd you like the chapter? Ideas what next chapter will hold?**

**Thank you very much for reading everybody!**


	5. Chapter 5

_A Helping Hand_

* * *

Gwen smiled and stepped into Miles's open arms. Resting her chin on his shoulder, she wrapped her arms around his torso and for a brief moment, just clung to him and let him hang onto her. "Thank you so much for your help," she said as she pulled away. "I don't think stopping Mysterio would have gone as well as it did without your help."

Miles grinned and looked away from her. "You're welcome," he replied. "If you ever need help again…" trailed off Miles, scratching the back of his neck.

She nodded and stepped back from him, folding her arms across her chest as a wave of self-consciousness washed over her. "Don't worry, you're the first guy I'll think to call."

"Tight," he said. His eyes then flickered to the side of her head where she was grazed by the bullet. "Are you gonna go home soon? Your dad sounded kind of mad in that call the other day when you said we weren't going to be back and staying at MJ's for a couple of days…"

She waved off Miles concern. "He just doesn't like when I drop stuff on him last minute," she explained. Her parents might not like this new disappearing thing she'd been doing for not quite a year now, but they were growing used to it.

They also knew there wasn't really room to complain about this new quirk, Gwen was doing fine in school (no more straight As, but she wasn't getting Fs as she had right after Peter's death), they never got calls from any of the local precincts about her, and she never came home smelling of weed or alcohol. She just up and left sometimes. It wasn't something a parent_ wanted _their sixteen-year-old daughter to do, but it also wasn't something they could stop. She was too old for them to control like that. "And yeah," she said, answering his initial question. "It's not so red anymore and with the right headband they won't see it at all."

"Oh yeah?"

Gwen smiled and reached into her go-bag for situations just like this and pulled a thick black headband from it. Putting it on her head, she said, "See? I used to wear this all the time when I had long hair."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh," she answered, turning to look in the mirror belonging to May's guest room. Fussing with the headband, she explained, "It's really just a precaution at this point," she admitted. "In another day or so you won't ever know I was ever grazed in the first place."

"True that," agreed Miles.

Finished with her fussing, she turned back to Miles and grinned. "Perks of the bite, am I right?"

"Right," he echoed, smiling back at her.

-o-O-o-

Gwen turned the corner and saw she was back on the street with the convenience store she and Miles ran into Aaron in. A small furrow started between her brows. She hoped he was okay. Gwen had felt confident he would be fine if they left him behind Mysterio's apartment building in the aftermath of the fight, but now… Well, what if he wasn't? She didn't know the area as well as she had the last alleyway she left him in. Sucking the inside of her cheek between her teeth, she began to worry it as her eyes drifted to the cars driving past her. Should she duck into the convenience store and buy a paper to see if there was anything about the Prowler's arrest? She hoped no cops had gotten him. Not after he'd helped her and Miles (it didn't matter anymore that he'd helped Mysterio first because he helped them too and that had to cancel it out).

She was so lost in her worries she didn't even see a familiar figure jog to meet up with her. Nor did she see his hand reaching for her shoulder. It was only when his fingers brushed across her upper arm and he said "Gwen" she realized Aaron made it home okay and was just fine.

She paused only a moment to stammer, "Oh, uh, hi…"

Aaron grinned at her, stepping out of the way of other pedestrians and asking, voice lilting with a teasing tone, "Where's that _friend_ of yours? Don't tell me he's gone home already?"

Gwen rolled her eyes and put a hand on her hip. "Yes, my _friend _has gone home already," she replied, putting emphasis on friend. "He spent two extra days with me as it was."

He smirked and said, "Oh yeah?"

She squared her chin and snapped, "Yeah."

He laughed at her before pointing at her and saying, "The headband's a new look. It suits you."

Gwen just resisted the temptation to reach up and touch her headband. She knew it was okay. It may have been a couple of years since she last wore it and her hair might have been longer then, but it still looked good now with her not-quite-a-bob haircut. "You think?" she said instead.

"Yeah," he replied, smirk widening. His eyes took on a devious light as he asked, "What's brought it on, your _ friend_?"

Gwen scowled. "Stop that," she grumbled. "M-Niles is _just_ a friend," she stuttered. Gwen then huffed and told him, "And no, if you must know, I… bumped my head. I'm just wearing it so my parents don't worry." The minute the words left her mouth, she regretted them. What the Hell was Gwen thinking? Telling _him _that? Talking too much had never been a problem of Gwen's before, but with Aaron, it sure seemed to be.

His eyebrows jumped high on his forehead a moment as he just stared at her for a beat. Finally, he said, "A bump's something you gotta hide from them? After all the trouble you've gotten into lately?"

"It's a little more than a bump if I'm honest," Gwen admitted, biting her lower lip. Her heart was hammering and her Spidey-Sense urging her to run, yet she couldn't. The injury was suspicious enough as it was, running would just confirm for Aaron that she was Spider-Woman. If that's what he was thinking, anyway. God, she hoped that wasn't what he was thinking.

"Shit, kid," replied Aaron, leaning in. "How bad is this bump? You need a doctor? I know somebody who's discreet." Voice softer, he told her, "Your policeman daddy will never have to know."

She waved his offer away. "No," she said. "It's okay. Mi– _ Niles _looked at it. His mom's a nurse and he's picked up enough to know when something needs more than a butterfly bandage."

Aaron narrowed his eyes at her. "Interesting."

Gwen laughed nervously and looked away. "Isn't it?" she replied. "Hey, look, I really need to be going. I told my parents I'd be home fifteen minutes ago and they're already kind of annoyed with me for deciding me and Niles would spend the night with a friend the other day instead of coming home…"

"Sure, kid," Aaron replied in an easy tone that belied the frown on his face. "I'll see ya around. Soon too, I bet."

"Yeah, okay, bye Aaron," she finished before all but stepping around him and running the rest of the way home.

When had she gotten so stupid?

-o-O-o-

She was Spider-Woman for the night, soaring through New York, looking for trouble. However, it seemed to be alluding her tonight for whatever reason. Gwen didn't know if she should be thankful for annoyed. She was kind of itching to take out a mugger or stop a pimp from beating a prostitute. Anything to get her mind off her encounter with Aaron would be really good right about now.

Gwen gave a deep sigh when she finished swinging down yet another street without her Spidey-Sense so much as causing an itch on the back of her neck. Swinging up, she grabbed onto a ledge of an apartment building's roof and hoisted herself up. Sitting on it, she let her feet dangle and rested her elbows on her knees. Staring down at the street as people and cars drove by, Gwen began thinking about how long she would have to avoid that street before she could expect Aaron to forget their conversation. Two weeks? A month? Aaron didn't really seem to be the kind of guy who forgot stuff like what she'd said, though. Even if he wouldn't bring it up a month from now…

She groaned and put her face in her hands. "Idiot…" she hissed at herself. "How could you have been that dumb?"

"Alone tonight?" a gruff voice asked from behind.

Gwen nearly vaulted off the roof, but a clawed hand grabbing her arm stopped her. Looking up, she saw the Prowler staring at her. "Oh, hey," she greeted weakly. "Thanks."

He scoffed and let her go. Gwen brought her feet up and tucked her knees against her chest. "It's a quiet night," she said to him. "Kind of spooky, actually…"

"The other spider," he said, persistent.

Gwen sighed. "He was just helping out with Mysterio," she explained.

"So he's not your boyfriend?"

Gwen glared at the Prowler from behind her mask. "No," she spat, thoroughly annoyed. "What is it with every fucking body always assuming if a girl's with a guy they're a thing? They can be _ just _friends."

"Sorry," the Prowler said, putting up his hands in a placating gesture. Gwen huffed and looked away.

"Whatever."

She was made to jump when he settled into the spot beside her. Looking at him around her hood she asked, "Are you… Okay?"

"Fine. You?" he asked. "You're the one who got shot at a couple of days ago."

Gwen's fingers went to her freshly stitched-up mask. "It was just a graze," she told him. "Thanks, though, for jumping in like that."

He snorted. "It was nothing. But two sure had a funny way of showing gratitude, dumping me in the alley like that."

She cringed away from him. "Sorry about that," she said. "We wanted to get Mysterio in police custody before he woke up and it became more difficult."

"I understand," he replied.

Gwen traced a crack in the roof next to her foot. "Any particular reason you're talking to me tonight?"

He was quiet for a long moment and Gwen's heart jumped to her throat. He was going to say he knew—

"The hero thing," he said, "how's that work? You just… jump in?"

She laughed.

"What's so funny?" he demanded.

Gwen shook her head. "Nothing," she said. "Absolutely nothing." Taking a deep breath, she answered, "Yeah. I just jump in when I see something's wrong." She side-eyed the Prowler. "I never kill anybody, though. The victims are being traumatized plenty already."

He slowly nodded. "Yeah, I get you," he agreed. "No one's ever _ paid _you, have they?"

She shook her head. "No. The couple of times people tried, I've always turned them down too. I'm just doing what's right. Being paid cheapens that."

"Guess you got a point," the Prowler replied with a sigh.

There was a pause between them when Prowler got to his feet. Gwen twisted her head around to look at him. "Where are you going?"

"Got business," he replied.

She cocked her head. "Oh?"

He waved a claw at her. "Not the kind you're thinking," he told her. "It's… Non-costume stuff."

Gwen turned her attention back to New York's skyline, feeling more settled than she had when the Prowler first appeared. "Oh, then have a good night," she told him.

"You too, kid," he said.

She resisted the urge to glance behind her for what felt like several minutes, but was probably no more than two. When she looked back, Gwen found the Prowler long gone. The last of the tension left her shoulders and she exhaled. That hadn't gone too bad at all. Hell, it'd gone_ well_. The Prowler admitted he was thinking beyond being a villain. Soon, she might have an ally. Soon, she might not be all alone. Grinning behind her mask, she shot off a stream of webbing and swung off the rooftop, whooping her excitement as she flew down the street, continuing her evening's patrol.

* * *

**How did you like the end? Miles has gone home, Gwen's really made herself suspect to Aaron. It won't be long at all before he figures out who Spider-Woman really is!**

**…If he hasn't already ;)**

**Thank you for reading!**


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